This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2002-7984, filed Feb. 14, 2002, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated hereby by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a soldering apparatus and a method for a collimator.
2. Description of the Related Art
A collimator is an optical communication device collimating a ray emitted from a light source. The collimator is employed as a component of equipment such as optical communication equipment, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, etc., which use parallel light.
As shown in FIG. 1, a collimator 10 generally includes a pigtail 12 and a GRIN (gradient index) lens 14 which are coaxially arranged, a glass tube 15 to accommodate and support the pigtail 12 and the GRIN lens 14, and a metal sleeve 16 to protect the glass tube 15. The pigtail 12 is made of glass, and a fiber 13 forming a path of an incident ray is connected therethrough from one end part of the pigtail 12. An inclined part 12a is formed on the other end part of the pigtail 12 and has a predetermined inclination angle. Further, the GRIN lens 14 is provided with an inclined part 14a on one end thereof which is in correspondence with the inclined part 12a of the pigtail 12.
To manufacture the collimator 10 in accordance with the above configuration, the GRIN lens 14 is first inserted into the glass tube 15, and fastened therein. The end part of the GRIN lens 14 formed with the inclined part 14a is located inside the glass tube 15, and the other end part thereof protrudes out of the glass tube 15 via a predetermined length.
After the GRIN lens 14 is accommodated in and supported by one side of the glass tube 15, the pigtail 12 is inserted in the other side of the glass tube 15. The end part of the pigtail 12 formed with the inclined part 12a is accommodated inside the glass tube 15 and faces the inclined part 14a of the GRIN lens 14 which is also accommodated inside the glass tube 15.
After the pigtail 12 is inserted in the glass tube 15, the inclined part 12a of the pigtail 12 is aligned to obtain desired optical properties. The pigtail 12 is then fastened inside the glass tube 15. Thereafter, the glass tube 15 accommodating and supporting the GRIN lens 14 and the pigtail 12 is inserted into the metal sleeve 16. Then the glass tube 15 is fastened onto the metal sleeve 16 by applying an epoxy resin 17 to one end of the metal sleeve 16 to complete the manufacturing of collimator 10.
The completed collimator 10 is used as an individual component. However, as shown in FIG. 2, a collimator assembly 1 made by soldering a pair of completed collimators 10 and 10xe2x80x2 inside a housing 20 having a tube shape, is employed as a component of communication equipment.
Conventionally, the collimator assembly 1 has been manufactured manually. For example, each of the pair of collimators 10 and 10xe2x80x2 is inserted into opposite sides of the housing 20, and then soldered inside the housing 20. Consequently, manufacturing the collimator assembly 1 in this way takes a large amount of time, thereby decreasing productivity and reliability of the collimator assembly 1.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a soldering apparatus and a method for a collimator, in which a collimator assembly is automatically soldered, thereby reducing an amount of time taken to manufacture the collimator assembly and increasing reliability of the collimator assembly.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing an apparatus to solder a plurality of collimators into a housing formed with a plurality of through holes spaced from each other at a predetermined distance along a longitudinal direction thereof. The apparatus includes a housing accommodating part to accommodate the housing, a housing dispensing unit including a housing chucking part to chuck the housing accommodated in the housing accommodating part, and a housing carrying part to carry the housing chucking part to a predetermined soldering position. The apparatus also includes a plurality of collimator grip units including grip parts, each to grip the plurality of collimators, and moving near to and distant from each other relative to the soldering position to insert the plurality of collimators into the housing moved to the soldering position. The apparatus includes a soldering unit disposed adjacent to the soldering position to solder the plurality of collimators into the housing through the through holes of the housing.
According to an aspect of the invention, the plurality of collimator grip units include a first grip unit having a first grip part to grip a first collimator, and a first lifting part to move the first grip part to the soldering position. The plurality of collimator grip units also include a second grip unit disposed facing toward the first grip unit, and having a second grip part to grip a second collimator, and a second moving part to move the second grip part to the soldering position.
According to an aspect of the invention, the soldering unit includes a soldering part disposed adjacent to a respective one of the through holes of the housing, a soldering rod provided at the soldering part and disposed between a respective one of the collimators and the housing by passing through the respective through hole of the housing, and a heating part combined to the soldering part and heating the soldering rod.
According to an aspect of the invention, the soldering part is disposed inclined toward the longitudinal direction of the housing.
According to another aspect of the invention, the apparatus further includes a soldering unit carrying part to move the soldering unit along the longitudinal direction of the housing.
According to another aspect of the invention, the apparatus further includes a control part to automatically control the housing dispensing unit, the collimator grip unit, and the soldering unit, and the soldering unit carrying part.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing a method to solder a plurality of collimators into a housing formed with a plurality of through holes spaced from each other at a predetermined distance along a longitudinal direction thereof. The method includes dispensing the housing to a predetermined soldering position, inserting the plurality of collimators into the housing moved to the soldering position, and soldering the plurality of collimators to the housing through the through holes of the housing.
According to an aspect of the invention, the soldering includes inserting a soldering rod into the through holes of the housing at an inclined position.